Meeting of the Contact Committee of the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Member States of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors

The annual meeting of the Contact Committee of the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Member States of the European Union and of the European Court of Auditors (hereinafter referred to as the Contact Committee), hosted by the State Audit Office of the Republic of Croatia, was held this year on 11 and 12 October in Dubrovnik.

The meeting was attended by Heads and representatives of the supreme audit institutions of the EU member states and the European Court of Auditors, as well as the Heads and representatives of the EU candidate countries as active observers.

The meeting was opened by Mr Ivan Klešić, Auditor General of the Republic of Croatia, and Mrs. Grozdana Perić, MP in the Croatian Parliament and chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee.

The first day of the meeting discussed the topic of "Interaction with Citizens - Opening SAIs", which, when facing issues related to the overall EU policy (Migration, Security, Climate Change, Brexit etc.), and EU financial management data, false news, digital audits, etc.), brings not only the challenges for SAIs but also numerous opportunities to improve their efficiency.

At the seminar, accompanied by a panel discussion, as external speakers participated: Mr Ivica Tolić, Member of the European Parliament, who gave an overview of the general state of the European Union, Karen Hill, Director of SIGMA, who spoke about the topic from the perspective of SIGMA and her experiences, and Mrs. Laetitia Veriter, director of the NGO Citizens for Europe, as representative of the EU citizens, recalling the need, possibilities and ways of involving citizens in the work of state audits. Panel was supported by the representatives from the audience: Mr. Klaus-Heiner Lehne, President of the European Court of Auditors, Mr. Kay Scheller, President of the German Bundesrechnungshof and Mr. Charles Deguara, Auditor General of Malta, who shared the positive and less positive experiences in interaction with citizens.

The second day of the meeting concerned the presentation and taking note of the working groups’ reports within the Contact Committee, and the presentation of EU-related audit reports (SAIs of Germany and Czech Republic, SAI of Italy and SAI of Poland).

The meeting ended with the closing words of Mr. Ivan Klešić, the Auditor General of the Republic of Croatia and the Chair of the Contact Committee, and taking over of the Contact Committe Chairmanship by the host of the next Contact Committee - the State Audit Office of Poland.